Chapter 20
Mari
“Okay, when Kas kicks and punches, you have to create resistance with the pads. Keep them flat with your elbows tucked against your ribs.” Dash pushes my arms into my sides and slaps his hand on one of the two Thai pads strapped to my forearms. “Maintain a strong core and exhale on impact. You have to stay balanced, or else you will get fucked up.”
Dash steps back with a bounce and I look warily at Kas. I don’t particularly want to train with him. I’m still bothered that he left me high and dry, and even more bothered that I’m bothered about him leaving me high and dry; it’s never-ending botheredness.
“We’re team building, I’m not fucking you up,” Kas says.
I hide my smile as he struggles to push his unruly hair back with his thick boxing gloves. The strands flop back down to his forehead as soon as he thinks they’re out of the way.
I step to him and reach up on my tiptoes to comb his hair back with my fingers. It’s not as easy as I thought it’d be because the Thai pads on my arms nudge his nose and partly obstruct my ministrations—I manage to do a better job than he ever could in those massive gloves, though. I purposefully ignore Kas’s fervent stare and the spasm of his jaw.
“There,” I whisper, pulling away. My heart beats just as fast as it did in front of the changing rooms.
“Thanks,” he mutters.
I step back into position. “Ready when you are, Paj?k.”
“I’ll go light so you get used to the force,” he says.
I nod, jutting my head when instead of punching, he just watches me. “Are you gonna punch, or do I have to show you how it’s done?” I tease.
Kas shakes his head and looks down at the mat.
“Oooh,” Dash calls.
Kas jabs my pad lightly and I sigh.
“Was that the force?” I ask.
“I said I’d go light.”
“That’s too light, Kas. It’s insulting when I can obviously handle a good pounding.” Kas’s eyes narrow, and he regards me with such intensity, I have to force myself to ignore the brief heat that flushes through my body. “Grow up,” I mutter, more to myself than anything.
Kas punches the pad again. Still too light.
“Harder,” I say, trying to look everywhere but his heated gaze.
Jab.
“Harder.”
Jab.
It doesn’t take long for Kas to pummel the pads in harsh succession, interchanging between his left and right hand. The smacking noises of the hits are now accompanied by Dash shit-talking to us to make us work harder.
Is Kas meant to be looking his opponent directly in the eyes when beating them up? His obscenely blue irises lasering into mine is extremely unsettling if so.
I need to break this eye contact, and fast.
“Dodge,” I command, swiping a padded arm over the crown of Kas’s head.
It catches him off guard and he steps back, chest heaving. He smiles at me and I smile back.
“Your turn,” he pants and lunges toward me.
I mirror his movements until we’re dancing with our fists. We go hand to pad, moving around the ring without hesitation until the impact of Kas’s hits begin to take their toll.
“Tell me when to stop,” he says.
Stop? I’m not tapping out now. It’s been less than five minutes and I’m r eally getting into this.
“Don’t stop,” I choke out through sharp breaths.
“Ooh, she’s flagging!” Dash sings.
I block out his taunts, boring my eyes into Kas to make sure he doesn’t stop.
“Tell me when to fucking stop, Mari,” Kas grits.
“Ease up, Kas!” Dash shouts. “You’re gonna fucking kill her!”
The steady throb of my heart reverberates through my entire being. It works hard to pump the much-needed oxygen through my veins.
“Don’t even think about easing up,” I threaten and immediately eat my words when Kas’s next hit throws me into the roped edge like a rag doll.
Kas rushes over to me, tracing his hands over my body in the same way he did after I was almost crushed at his fight. This time, I don’t bat him away.
“You okay? Why didn’t you tell me to stop?” he asks in a panicked tone.
I close my eyes meditatively, willing my heart rate to return back to its resting state.
“Mari, you good? Why didn’t you let up, man?” Dash says.
“She told me not to.”
“If Mari tells you to jump off a cliff, would you follow? You were annihilating her.”
“Mari’s grown, she knows her limits,” Kas argues. “I trust her word.”
Kas and Dash bicker between themselves and it’s hilarious.
Kas tries to pull me up, so I make myself as limp as I possibly can and loll my tongue out for extra effect. I open one eye, and Dash barks out a laugh that fades as he walks to the other side of the ring.
“Thanks for trusting my word,” I whisper to Kas who is staring down at me. “I know my limits. Give me five and we’ll have another round.”
“I’ll give you thirty before the next round,” he says, pinning me with a heated glare.
My body prickles under his roaming gaze and it’s not just because of the readjusting blood flow.
“Your stamina is insane, Mari. I honestly didn’t think you’d be able to handle it,” Dash says, pulling my attention away from Kas.
“It really wasn’t that long. I’m more than capable of handling it, and my endurance is way better than yours. Watch me put on a few pounds and it’s over for you.”
Dash pouts dramatically. “Hey! My mom says I’m a big, strong boy.”
“Didn’t peg you for a woman beater, Kacper.”
All three of our heads shoot up at a distinctly familiar voice.
Fletcher Ward.
He enters the gym flanked by Clive and a woman with impressive muscles. Her hair is buzzed along the sides and the long strands that remain are dyed bright pink. She’s also tall, a similar height to Ward who is over six feet according to his fighter stats. From what I’ve seen online, I’m pretty sure this is Ward’s wife, Olive.
“How the fuck did he get in here?” Kas calls to nobody in particular.
Davina waltzes through just behind Ward. It seems her prenatal appointment timed itself well.
“What the hell is going on here?” she asks. Clive’s gaze latches onto her. She takes a good look at each of our unwanted visitors and lingers just a tad longer on Clive when she walks around him like a lioness scouting its prey. “Can we help you?”
“We came to apologize for how the meeting went,” Clive replies with a smile.
“We?” Kas asks.
“Fletcher.” Clive jerks his head to Ward who can’t even bring himself to look at Kas.
“Ward couldn’t come on his own? He had to bring someone who wasn’t in the meeting and the only person from his team who could apologize,” Kas criticizes.
The woman next to Fletcher glares at us. “I’m Olive Ward, his wife.”
Knew it.
She places her hand on Ward’s arm, and he shrugs it off as he checks me out so overtly it has Olive shooting me a venomous look, and Kas shooting him the same.
Weird. Kas didn’t even give Ward a look that intense in the meeting where all hell broke loose.
“I apologize for how we acted in the meeting,” Ward says.
Holy shit, Kas’s threat worked.
Kas doesn’t respond and helps me up instead.
“You’re just gonna fucking ignore me?” Ward shouts. He turns angrily to Clive. “You said it would work. You said he’d cooperate.”
“Baby,” Olive says softly in a measly attempt at pacifying her man-child. I feel bad for her.
“I never said it would work, I said if you want a chance of him cooperating, he expects an apology,” Clive says firmly, like he’s reminding a child how to behave.
Ward stomps closer to the ring, the singular braid in his giant, untamed beard shakes with each step. “You gonna accept the fucking apology, or not?” The vein in his neck ripples beneath the FU tattoo.
“I don’t feel like it,” Kas says, removing his gloves and then the Thai pad from my forearm. He encases his warm palm around the slight mark it’s left on my skin.
Ward lets out a sharp growl. “You’re a fucking liar, Paj?k.”
“What? Because you were so desperate for me to consent to fake PR stunts?”
After focusing a little too hard on Kas’s hand massaging my arm, I angle my neck to see Ward’s face of fury.
“Right, if this interaction is over, can you get out of our gym?” Davina says. “Kas doesn’t want to do public controversies.”
“This is your fighter, do something!” Ward barks at Davina.
He needs a muzzle.
“Don’t raise your voice at her, she’s not the person you’re fighting,” Clive defends and drags Ward back with a strong pull of his arm.
“Whose side are you fucking on?!” Ward shouts at Clive. If I’m not mistaken, there is a flash of impatience in Clive’s eyes.
Davina shrugs. “I didn’t sign up to parent grown men. Now get out of our gym.”
“Your gym? This isn’t your gym, it’s owned by the SFL,” Olive Ward argues.
“Ours for six weeks,” I correct.
Olive bares her teeth at me, and I narrow my eyes.
“Ward, let’s go. I’ll liaise with Davina,” Clive says.
I smirk at Olive when she breaks eye contact first.
What do they expect Dav to do? Wrangle Kas up and force him to give Ward the answers he wants to hear?
Ward growls like a little dog and storms out of the gym with Olive’s arm looped in his. Clive smiles apologetically at all of us and politely ducks his head before pointing at Davina.
“You,” he says.
“Me?” Davina asks, her cheeks becoming ruddy.
“Yes, you. I’ll ring you.”
Clive strides unhurriedly out of the gym, leaving us to bask in whatever the hell just happened.
Davina clears her throat. “Right, back to ... whatever you kids were up to. I need to get back to ... stuff I need to do.”
She speeds into the back of the gym.
Kas and I exchange a glance at Davina’s flustered state and Dash snorts loudly.
“I think Clive wants Davina,” Dash says, laughing louder at his verbal conclusion because as weird as it is to say, I think Davina has a tiny soft spot for Clive too.